A marketing writer is a chameleon: They can be a youthful, casual voice when writing social media copy for one client, then a drier, more authoritative voice when writing private, internal communications for another. 

But sometimes that ability to shift can make you forget who you are when no one is asking you to represent their brand. Lots of marketing writers are also creative writers. But given that it’s more likely your marketing writing is what keeps the lights on, it probably takes up more of your time than your creative writing. And for that same reason, it’s possible that after fighting hard all day to work to the absolute best of your ability, and to meet all your deadlines, it can feel exhausting to try and write even more during your precious free time. 

Luckily, the same toolbox you use in your marketing writing will serve you as a creative writer as well. And you may find that you’re better able to get words on the page than even those few who make a living solely through their creative work. 

A Bad First Draft Is Better Than an Empty Page

When it comes to marketing writing in this day and age, you’re producing more content in less time than ever. There’s no time to be precious about things being “perfect” when your relationship with your client depends on hitting deadlines. 

It’s also much easier to put words on the page when you aren’t so emotionally invested in what you’re writing. A blog you ghostwrite for a business owner doesn’t reflect your artistic ability, so you’re not going to overthink getting started. That doesn’t mean you turn in shoddy work for the sake of working quickly, but you know it’s better to start somewhere than to stare at your screen. 

Take that mentality to your creative work. If you can feel how bland and voiceless your novel is, keep writing it anyway. If you know for a fact that everything appearing on your screen is fluff that will end up getting deleted, well, it has to be written before it can be unwritten. It’s so much easier to revise than it is to draft, so use your marketing muscle and get something, anything, down. 

What Do You Want? 

Marketing writing is all about selling. And selling is all about identifying a want. 

Lots of brands talk about an “imagined client,” the person they think of as the archetypal person who would buy what they’re selling. These imagined clients can get surprisingly specific, getting down to the level of political viewpoints, local neighborhood, and goals for the future. That idea of a specific customer helps a marketing team build out everything from the color scheme used on the website to prices to, of course, the language used in marketing materials. 

That hyperspecific focus on a want, on an unmet need, is the exact approach you need to take when you’re creating characters. Instead of prompting an action like signing up for emails or going back to buy what they put in their shopping cart, you’ll create a scenario that forces them to ask their crush out on a date, take that cross-country road trip, or even find that magic sword hidden in the secret cave. 

Depending on what kind of marketing work you do, it can sometimes feel like brands take the customer journey a little too seriously. Is it really all that life-changing to find and purchase a new set of sheets, even if they are very soft? Even in a light comedy, knowing how to give your character a specific desire is going to make them stronger protagonists and give your story bigger stakes, more than if you didn’t have that experience from marketing work. 

Reading and Writing for Pleasure

Modern corporate jobs require a lot of reading and writing, even if you aren’t a writer per se. Emails, newsletters, meeting recaps, even company message boards all add up. It can be hard to get off the clock and want to keep reading. And because writing is actually generative, that can feel even more draining after a long day. 

It’s good advice for any writer, but those who write marketing copy especially need to reach for books that make them happy. Don’t be judgmental about what that means! In a world where chatbots are churning up the work of real writers and spitting out blandness, there’s no space to judge yourself for your reading tastes. 

And if you’re struggling to see your writing voice in an ambitious project like a novel, think smaller. Keep a commonplace book, an old practice where you write little lines here and there about what inspires you and why. If writing an entire page of a journal feels like a chore, write a single line. If your fingers cannot type another word, make a voice memo. 

Above all, prioritize a reading and writing practice that’s just for you. 

Serve Yourself First

It doesn’t matter what medium of artist you are—you have to create for yourself first. Perhaps the hardest thing about transitioning from marketing writing to creative writing, even within the course of a day or week, is making that shift. Even if you do have ambitions of publishing your work one day, eliminate the client in your own mind. When you start looking inward, not only will the words flow faster, but you’ll like them a whole lot more. 

Chelsea Ennen is a writer living in Brooklyn with her husband and her dog. When not writing or reading, she is a fiber and textile artist who sews, knits, crochets, weaves, and spins.